QUICK’N DIRTY: LIVE FROM TALLINN
This movie comes to this year’s edition of PÖFF with no small amount of pressure on its shoulders. It is the second in a thematic trilogy from filmmaker Eeva Mägi, following the powerful 2023 film Mo Mamma. While the stories and characters are unconnected, similar themes are explored.
Jarmo Reha stars as Eugen, a 28-year-old man released from prison after serving a 10-year sentence for a tragic accident that resulted in the death of his younger brother. Finding a world that has moved on without him, he reconnects with his childhood friends and slowly reestablishes contact with his father Helmar (Rednar Annus). However, the ghosts of the past threaten to derail this new start.
Filmed with gritty authenticity, some of the deepest emotions are explored without the need for melodrama. Mägi’s film has a lot of stillness and contemplation, drawing you in as you wait to hear the next thought. The characters, built through unscripted interactions, come to life as it’s made clear that everyone is fighting an internal battle.
Annus’ Helmar struggles with grief, close friend Stina (Ester Kuntu) has a traumatising work arrangement. As Eugen puts it at one point “everything beautiful is in a cage”, and none more so than him. Played with an unguarded, childlike innocence by Reha, Eugen is not the “troubled youth” you might expect from the background of the story. He’s a gentle, if quirky, soul that made a terrible mistake, and when asked what the most beautiful thing he’s ever been told is, he answers: “That it’s not my fault”. Therein lies the most heartbreaking aspect of the film, that of all the obstacles he faces, forgiving himself may be the hardest.
Equally, his interactions with co-star Annus subverts expectations. There’s no emotional face-off, and the older man looks on his son with affectionate eyes more than once. However, the power of the story is in the moments we can’t hear, such as words whispered from Helmar to Eugen during a party that only they know. Everyone on the screen is looking for forgiveness but unsure where to find it.
That is not to say there isn’t joy within the suffering. Seeing Eugen dance to 2000s pop hits during his cigarette breaks, or laugh with his friends as they plot an imaginary escape to Brazil, is an endearing portrait of the found families many of us make that carry us through the hardest times. Despite an ending that may suggest more trouble is on the horizon, hope flickers on the frosty Tallinn landscape.
A magnificent opening film for this year’s PÖFF, Mo Papa lives up to the legacy of its predecessor with a story that is quietly complex, and touchingly human. Eeva Mägi proves the success of Mo Mamma was no fluke, and those leaving this second chapter will be eager to see how she ends the trilogy.
Mo Papa just opened the Critics’ Picks section of the 29th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.
